This NYC Penthouse Set a Sales Record in 2020. It Just Sold (Again) for $49 Million.

Remember that downtown Manhattan triplex that sold for a record-setting price last year during the pandemic? The expensively renovated 8,000 square foot penthouse on Broome Street with six terraces? The one atop the building where Heath Ledger was found dead in 2008? The one that went for a tad more than $35 million, the most expensive property ever to be sold in SoHo? Well, rip up the record books, folks, because that penthouse condo has just been sold again, this time for a brain-freezing and record-shattering $49 million in an off-market deal that was first sussed out by The Real Deal. Tal and Oren Alexander of Douglas Elliman represented both buyer and seller.

The seller, who has never been publicly identified, made no alterations and improvements to the penthouse, which had been extensively renovated by distressed-securities investor David Matlin and his wife Lisa, who bought the place in 2011 for $17.8 million. The Matlins listed the post-renovation unit in 2018 for $65 million, and the asking price dropped to $43.75 million before it was sold in September 2020 for $35.1 million. The latest deal closed in early November and the as-yet unidentified new owner appears to be an obviously wildly rich Silicon Valley power player.

The landmarked, five-story cast-iron building was built in 1873, and many of its original features remain intact. Along with the triplex penthouse, the boutique building contains three loft-style residences, plus a street level commercial duplex that currently serves as the showroom and studio of interior designer Thomas O’Brien. In all, the penthouse sprawls over 7,634 square feet of interior space, with a total of four bedrooms, five full and two half bathrooms. The half a dozen landscaped terraces add nearly 3,500 square feet of outdoor living space.

The bus station-sized great room all by itself measures more than 1,400 square feet with 15-foot ceilings and not just one but two fireplaces, while the eat-in kitchen sports a dreamy dark cabinets and every culinary bell and whistle money can buy. (Anyone else now considering painting their kitchen black?) A huge wood-burning fireplace set in to a white-washed brick wall anchors the kitchen’s dining area, and there are two butler’s pantries—better hire another butler!—plus a wine storage room.

Two ensuite guest bedrooms and a skylight-topped office/library completes the main floor. The master suite occupies the entirety of the second floor with a fourth fireplace, two terraces, several walk-in closets, a coffee bar with fridge, and two bathrooms, one of them considerably larger with a spectacular carved marble tub.

As grandiose as the lower floors are, the top floor is where the party is. In addition to a screening room with another fireplace, there’s a small gym and a dining room with wet bar. A secondary kitchen next to the dining room, along with a second laundry room and a tiny bathroom, are on the lower level of a compact two-floor staff suite.

The granite-paved terraces include custom gas lanterns and an integrated irrigation system to keep the greenery green. The vast front terrace, outside the screening room with two massive skylights that fill the great room below with natural light, overlooks Broome Street, while the courtyard-style central terrace flaunts a heated steel and glass canopy, a TV alcove for al fresco TV watching, a built-in barbecue and yet another wood-burning fireplace. A smaller terrace at the penthouse’s sunny south end boasts a sunken spa with wraparound city views. Also included in the transaction were three large private storage units in the basement, one with custom built-ins and another temperature controlled for storing wine, furs and other costly, heat sensitive items.

It’s not clear what accounts for the $14 million mark up in just one year, since nothing was changed, according to listing agent Tal Alexander. But heck, if we counted our wealth in billions, we wouldn’t care about that either. Plus, not that the new owner is counting their pennies, but whoever bought this sophisticated treasure really shouldn’t need to spend another dollar in updates. So there’s that.

Check out more images of the penthouse below.